Rig for rotary drills



July 12, 1932. w. J. MITCHELL RIG FOR ROTARY DRILLS Filed Au 1, 1950 ATTORNEY July 12, 1932. w J. MITCHELL RIG FOR ROTARY DRILLS Filed Aug. 1, 1930 2 Sheets-$heet 2 INVENTOR ATTORNEY Patented July 12, 1932 UNETED STATES WILLIAM J. MITCHELL, OF SAN FRANGISCQUALIEORNIA BIG FOB ROTARY DRILLS Application filed August 1, ,1930. Serial No. 472,281.

My present invention relates to improvements in rigs for rotary drills used in earth boring, sinking wells, subterranean surveys, mining and stone working, and similar boring or drilling operations.

The rig of my invention is designed for use with a portable support or jack, on which the operating unit is supported, and this support or ack may be used as an upright column or as a horizontal supporting bar. The

drilling machine, as a whole, is adjustable,

with relation to the fixed support or jack, to many angles, for the rotary operation of the drilling machine including the drill rod and tool.

By the utilization of the rig of my invention I provide a compact arrangement of a substantially minimum number of parts, which parts may with facility be relatively adjusted in order that the rig and drilling machine may be used in places that are found to be inaccessible when attempt is made to use the existing machines for this purpose.

Due to the simplicity in construction and operation of the rig a material reduction is accomplished in expenditures for time and labor required for setting up and operating the drilling machine, as well as for transporting the machine from place to place, and the comparatively light weight of the rig permits easy transportation as required.

In carrying out my invention I utilize swivel adjustments between parts, one of which adjustments provides for a direct swivel connection between the motor and the drilling machine, with another swivel adjustment between the drilling machine and the support or jack.

These swivel arrangements and adjustments are combined in such manner as to.

eliminate cumbersome and expensive parts, and reduce the size of the rig to small compass, and also by means of these combinations of parts the rig may with facility and convenience be adapted to various different kinds of boring and drilling operations.

My invention consists in certain novel combinations and arrangements of parts as will hereinafter be more fully pointed out and claimed. In'the accompanying drawings I have illustrated one complete example of the physical embodiment of my inventionlwherein the parts are combined and arrangedaccording to one mode I have thus far devised for the practical application of the principles of my invention.

Figure 1 is a view in side elevationshowing the rig and drilling machine embodying my invention.

Figure 2 is a view in elevation of the rig as seen from the left in Figurel but with the pneumatic motor or engine, and other parts in other adjusted positions.

F1gure 3 is a top plan view showing the rig and machine in use for mining or stone working operations, showing by dotted lines various positions to which different parts may be adjusted. V

Figure {L is. an enlarged edge View of the main swivel head with its socket-head or socket ring broken away for convenience of illustration, and showing also a portion of the swivel connection between the main swivel and the support or jack.

Figure 5 is a detail view showing a brace between the motor or engine frame and the jack to prevent vibrations and lend rigidity to the rig. V

In the preferred form of the invention as shown in the drawings I utilize the well known type of tubular supporting bar or jack 1 having the screw head 2 for contact with a wall as IV, and it will be understood of course that the jack provides the solesupporting means for the rig and machine mounted thereon. In the exemplified form of the invention disclosed in the drawings the motor or engine is of the pneumatic type, having, usual cylinders .3, frame 4:, for supporting the operating parts 'of the engine or motor, and of these operating parts I have designated the pitmen 5, crank shaft 6 and the driving gear 7 on the crank shaft.

. The crankshaft projects through the open center of a circular socket-head or ring 8 which is fashioned with an attaching flange 9, and bolted at 10 to a complementary flange 11 of the motor frame. The driving gear 7 of the rotary tool is located concentrically the motor frame, and these with the open center of the socket-head, and the latter is fashioned with a circular or annular flange 12, to which retaining lugs 13 are secured by bolts 14, the inner edge of the retaining lugs projecting over the inner edge of the flange 12 as indicated.

Diametrically opposite the attaching plate 9, the socket-head is provided with a brace arm 15, which may be secured by lug bolts 14 and other bolts atthe back of the socket head or ring, and the brace arm is provided with flanges or lugs that are bolted at 16 to the head 17 of the engine frame. In this manner the socket ring 8 is made rigid with parts are thus relatively braced.

Within a socket ring 8, and retainedby the 'lugs 13, which are used in suitable number, is located the main swivel-head 18 that couples or joins the motor frame with the drill-' ing machine proper. The swivel head also has an open center to accommodate the drive gear 7, and the head has an annular bearing flange 19 seated against the flanged socket head 8, and retained in the seat by the lugs 13 that are arranged at desired intervals about the socket head or ring.

The swivel head has a'pair of alined or diametrically arranged bearings 20 with bearing or journal caps 21 bolted thereon for the tubular feed screw 22, which is driven from the drive gear 7 through the complementary bevel gear 23 on the feed screw, and

.of course the feed screw has the usual chuck ithe-drill is journaled. As seen in Figure 2,

the control shaftis driven by the gear couple 28-29 from the feed shaft, at one side of the center of the swivel head, and at the other side of this head, gear couples 3031 are arranged between the control shaft and the feed shaft for alternate use in feeding or reversing the feed of the tool. A controllever 32 and control clutch 33, as best seen in Figure 2, are used for this purpose,-and the lever of course is manipulated by the attendant in the operation of the machine.

In addition to the swivel arrangement between the engine or motor and the swivelhead, the latter has a swivel arrangement or relation to the supporting bar or jack 1,

through a clamp device that may berigidly .isecured'to the jack; For this purp'ose the swivel head .has a smaller, auxiliary, tapered,

circular swivel 34 fashioned integral with v the main swivel head and disposed in a plane atright angles to the plate of the swivel head or ring 19; 1 7 V A clamp or clamp device 35 is fashioned .turned, arcuate flange 36 and the hinged clamp jaw, a quickdetachable arrangement is provided for coupling the main swivel head with the clamp device, and also for rigidly securing the head 34 between the arcuate' flange and the jaw after the parts have been adjusted to desired position.

The clamp device 35 is adjustable longitudinally of the jack for locating the rig, and the clamp device is also adjustable around the periphery of the jack for bringing the drilling machine to any desired angle around the jack. IVith the body of the device I use a clamp block 40 having a seat 41 for engagement with the jack, and bolts 42 are used to clamp or tighten the two parts of the clamp device on the jack.

In Figure 5 a brace plate 43 is illustrated as bolted to the motor frame, and this plate has a U-shaped jaw or yoke 44 to straddle the jack, a securing bolt 45 being threaded in the arms of the U-shaped yoke to secure 'the'latter on the jack. By this means the uniformly distributing the weight of the parts.

By the dotted lines in Figures 2 and 3 some of the various adjustments are indicated, and

it will be apparent that the motor and motor frame are rotatable for adjustment relative to the main or larger swivel head; the motor and large swivel head are bodily rotatable on the clamp device for adjusting the drilling machine, and the clamp device is both longitudinally and rotatably adjustable on thejack for locating the entire rig in desired position.

While the structure embodying'my invention is'well adapted for many different uses, it is especially fitted for making subterraneansurveys, where it is desired and'neces- "sary tosecure sample borings from different locations in the earth.

Because of the small size, compact arrangement and light weight of the entire implement, thelatter may readily be transported from place to place, and because of the simplicity in construction and minimum number of parts, the implement may with facility be erected and installed and the parts adjusted with due regard to efliciency'and convenience in operation. When a change of location is necessary, the parts may be readily separated, and if desired, separately transported.

In mining tunnels, drifts, or shafts the implement may quickly and with a minimum of labor, be adjusted to drill or bore a hole upwardly, downwardly, in a horizontal plane, or in planes at various degrees between these angular positions, and because of the adjustability of the parts of the implement the hole may be bored or drilled to a greater depth than is usually accomplished with machines now in use.

As the depth of the bore increases the drill rod is lengthened by passin additional sections through the tubular eed screw, after the feed screw has been retracted, and the chuck loosened in usual manner.

By mounting the motor or engine'and its frame directly on the swivel head, and centering the drive gear 7 concentrically with the main swivel head or ring, the engine is pivoted on its crank shaft as an axis, and the parts may be adjusted, practically, within a radius of 360 degrees, but a hanging or depending position of the motor and its frame is preferable.

In assembling the parts, the clamp device is usually secured on the jack, the swivel head is then secured on the clamp device, and then the socket-head with the motor and its frame are secured on the swivel head by tightening the lugs 13 on the swivel head.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In a rig for portable rotary drilling machines, the combination with a motor and its frame, and a socket ring rigid with the frame, of a driving head, a swivel ring rigid with the head and co-acting with the socket ring, a swivel head rigid with the driving head disposed in a plane at an angle to the plane of the swivel ring and having an axis intersecting the axis of the rin a jack-bar, an adjust-- able support on the ack-bar and fastening means for the suport, and co-acting means on the support and swivel head for rigidly connecting these members.

2. The combination with a driving head having a swivel head and a swivel ring disposed in right-angular planes and having intersecting axes, of a frame adjustably mounted on the swivel ring and a motor mounted on the frame, means for holding the frame in adjusted position, a jack-bar, an adjustable clamp on the j ack-bar, and co -acting means on the clamp and swivel head for rigidly connecting these members.

3. The combination with a driving head having a swivel head and a swivel ring disposed in right-angular planes and having intersecting axes, of a frame adjustabl y mounted on the swivel ring and a motor mounted on the frame, means for holding the 

